Deltadromeus
Deltadromeus was one of the deadliest dinosaurs in the Primordial Forest. Deltadromeus lurked in the deserts and forests of Africa, and hunted in ferocious packs, similar to wild dogs. Deltadromeus means “Delta Runner”, because it was a fast hunter. Although Deltadromeus was a close relative to Ceratosaurus, it looked similar to a raptor, such as a velociraptor, and behaved similar, however Deltadromeus was far more powerful. A full grown Deltadromeus was 30 feet tall, and weighted up to four tons, making the adult “Deltas” larger than Majungasaurus, the king of Primordial Forest. There has never been a sighting of adult Deltas in the forest, and only juveniles, which were the size of a man (6ft) have been found. The juvenile Deltadromeus in the photo above, are attempting to eat a dead triceratops, however an adult Majungasaurus is chasing them away, so it can devour the meal. Deltaddromeus had immensely good eyesight and smell, and could smell a dead carcass from over 360 feet away, the length of a football field. Vicious Packs Deltadromeus evolved to hunt its prey by working together with other members of its species. Normally, such animals are closely related. Humans and their closest-living relatives chimpanzees are themselves pack hunters even without aid of other species. Other pack hunters include simple arthropods such as ants, highly intelligent mammals such as dolphins, orcas, lions, and hyenas, a few birds such as the Harris Hawk, and occasionally crocodiles. There is a possibility that other non-avian theropod dinosaurs displayed pack behavior as well. When Deltadromeus hunt a Titanosaur or ceratopsian, it sometimes takes to deep water to avoid the pack. A Deltadromeus response to this behavior is that the pack rests with one or two "deltas" annoying the prey until it gets fatigued. The organization of Deltadromeus packs includes Alpha Delta which eat first from a kill and which produce most Deltadromeus hatchlings, or chicks. Physical Features The fairly complete holotype skeleton of Deltadromeus agilis (museum catalogue number SGM-Din2) measured an estimated 8 m (26.2 ft) long. A second specimen (IPHG 1912 VIII) was originally described by Ernst Stromer as a specimen of Bahariasaurus, but was designated as a specimen of Deltadromeus by Paul Sereno in 1996.This second specimen comes from a much larger individual, with a femur (upper leg bone) length of 1.22 meters, compared to 0.74 meter femur of the holotype.Deltadromeus skeletons have been found in the same formations as those of the giant theropods Carcharodontosaurus, Spinosaurus, and Bahariasaurus, which may be synonymous with Deltadromeus. No skull material has been found for either Deltadromeus or Bahariasaurus, and though carnivore teeth labelled as "Deltadromeus" are commonly sold in rock shops, there is no way of knowing if they actually come from this animal. Relationship with Ceratosaurus Deltadromeus was a carnivorous dinosaur measuring over 30 feet from snout to tail and weighing in the neighborhood of 3 to 4 tons building up a significant head of steam during a chase, but judging by its streamlined build, Deltadromeus must have been one of the fastest and most dangerous predators of the middle Cretaceous period. Until recently, this large theropod was classified as a coelurosaur (a family of fairly small, predatory dinosaurs), but its size and other anatomical characteristics have since placed it more firmly in the ceratosaur camp, and thus closely related to the equally dangerous Ceratosaurus. Trivia *There has never been a complete skeleton of Deltadromeus *There is no evidence that Deltadromeus hunted in packs *Deltadromeus was larger than in the film Category:dinosaurs Category:theropods